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And the last Bloody Pulpit of the year:
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The two whites were served as mystery wines. I knew what they were but
didn't know which was was which; totally confident that I could tell blind
old Rhone Marsanne from younger Calif Roussanne. I was convinced #1 was
the Jaffurs because of the perfume it showed, very much like old Viognier,
but was puzzled by the Condrieu-like minerality it showed. I was certain
the #2 wine was the Hermitage because of its lean/austere character, but
was puzzled by the lach of oxidized character and the stoney/earthy character
of Hermitage/Marsanne. Totally wrong, of course. The Hermitage was one
of the best old Marsannes I've had. But the perfume and fragrance it showed
sure suggests that it had some Viognier in there.
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The Garretson prices are the futures price from over a year ago. The Ojais
are also futures prices.
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Paige 23 Syrah: This is a wine created by Chris Keller and Joe Kalina.
The grapes come from the JK vnyd and the wine is made by Stephan Bedford.
The name comes from the anecdote that if you start writing and don't have
a story by page 23, you should stop writing. Don't know if the label flys
with the NYC rock group Paige 23 or not. Maybe a lawsuit in the offing??
It's awfully easy to confuse a rock band w/ a btl of Syrah I would guess.
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RozetVnyd: This is a relatively new vnyd just west of Paso off Hwy 46W.
Has Syrah/Roussanne/ Viognier/Mourvedre/Grenache planted in it. Steve Edmunds
also gets grapes from this vnyd. It's a Rhone-varietal vnyd to keep your
eye on.
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Garretson Bassetti: Puzzling wine to me. I've had this wine twice before
and was blown away by its spicy/peppery character. This btl had a lot of
small bubbles when I decanted it that seemed to indicate something going
on in the btl. Yet it didn't have any prickle on the palate to indicate
a problem. The nose was quite stinky at first, but by the end of the evening,
it had cleared to the old Bassetti I had liked so much before. The next
morning it had just a whiff of bretty/funky character but still that same
intense peppery/blackberry character. The wine has a fair amount of sediment,
so needs to be decanted and probably allowed to breathe for awhile. I checked
w/ Mat on this wine and he's not seen any problems with it. Afore btlg,
it tested zero for brett/ML and all those sort of bugs, so don't understand
this btl. Will try another one again soon. All in all, I think it's a killer
Syrah, one of the best Paso Syrahs I've had. Ellis Bassetti's vnyd is way
out west of Paso near Cambria. One of the coldest Syrah vnyds in Calif.
Steve Edmunds and Augie Hug take grapes from here as well. If you can ripen
the grapes, it's one of Calif's great Syrah vnyds. Big if, though. This
year, except for a small lot Steve Edmunds took in, Ellis lost nearly his
entire crop.
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DuMol: Co-owner Michael Verlander is the founder/part owner of Prima restaurant
& wine shop in Walnut Creek, always one of my must-stops when I go
to the Bay Area. I always walk into the wine store with the intention of
buying only a few btls of something special. I always walk out with at
least a case... of something special. Happens every time. The food in the
restaurant is some of my most favorite Italian food in the USofA. I had
had the Chard by the glass last time I ate at Prima and liked it quite
a lot... not my favorite varietal. I was mightly impressed by this Syrah
and am looking forward to trying the finne Pinot. A winery to keep your
eyes on.
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Syrahs Made By Pinot Producers: Whenever I taste the Dehlinger Syrah, I
always find a perfuminess to it that is also apparent in his Pinots. I
was also struck by the perfuminess of the DuMol, Copain, and the Testarossa.
Somehow, those Pinot producers seem to evoke a fragrance in their Syrahs
that you don't always/often find in other producers. But, then, maybe I'm
totally nuts, too.
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Saxum Syrah: This bottle was the HdR Auction lot bought by Roger &
Joy Swan of TheWineOutlet in Atascadero. It tasted essentially the same
as the btl I had a few months earlier w/ Justin down in Paso. One of the
best Paso Syrahs made, terrific wine.
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Epiphany Syrah: This wine is the inaugural effort by Eli Parker under his
own label. Quite a well made Syrah, I thought. What grabbed my attention
with this wine is the Stonewall Vnyd in Ventura County/Ojai. The only Ojai
Syrah I had had before was the RollRanch that Adam Tolmach makes. I understand
the vnyd is infected by Pierce's disease and shan't be producing much longer.
Too bad I think.
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Ojai Thompson: This btl was one of two that Michael & Adam stumbled
upon sitting in the UPS warehouse for who knows how long and sent on to
me to share with my group. They probably figured we are so smitten by the
Ojai wines that we'd drink 'em even if they were destroyed by heat!! :-)
Actually, there was no signs of leakage around the cork and I could taste
no signs of any heat damage whatsoever. I agree w/ LarryArchibald that
the wine may be going into a dumb/shut-down phase; it didn't seem to have
the powerful aromatics it had last Spring when we first tried. Somebody's
lose is our gain here.
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Ojai Syrahs: I've followed Adam Tolmach's Syrahs from the very start; the
'82 EstrelleRiverVnyd Calif/ PasoRobles Syrahs. It's certainly been an
exciting journey, with nary a misstep along the way. Since the early '90's,
as his Syrah style as moved away from a Burgundian, emphasis on toasty
Fr.oak, to much more of an emphasis expression of the fruit and terroir;
I think they have become, consistently, vineyard by vineyard, nearly the
best Syrahs produced in Calif, definitely world-class wines. Despite their
intensity and power, they still show a sense of restraint; seldom can they
be characterized as "over-the-top". Adam's Calif (now SantaBarbara) Syrah
have been, year-in and year-out, one of my no-brainer buys. Probably more
of this wine, per capita, here in LosAlamos than anywhere else in the world
outside OakView. His Ojai Red and Ojai White are.... well... it's dishonest
to buy wine this good at that price ($12). Of the single vnyd wines, the
Stolpman has been, over the few yrs of its existance, the least interesting
of the tableau. But with vine maturity, it continues to improve and will
probably be as good as the rest eventually. The RollRanch and the Thompson
have consistently been my favorites, some yrs one, some yrs the other.
The Thompson for its sheer power and weight, plus that peppery spiciness
that it usually displays. The RollRanch, usually a softer & fatter
wine, has a unique spiciness to it, a bit like fresh basil and oregano,
that I find absolutely intriguing. The BienNacido is probably the most
pure expression of Syrah fruit that Adam makes, with a pluminess and black
cherry character that seems to typify BienNacido fruit.
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Failla Syrah: This is the first Napa Syrah for Ehren Jordan under his own
label. I was expecting it to be a softer/less-interesting version of his
QueSyrahVnyd Syrah. It was not. It had much the same peppery/cold-climate
character of that QueSyrah vnyd w/ much the same NorthernRhone character
that one usually displays. An auspicious debut for this vnyd. The label
used to be Failla-Jordan, he & his wife's last names. Under threat
of a lawsuit by Tom Jordan, Ehren has dropped the Jordan name on the label.
Probably a good thing inasmuch the Jordan Cabernet would be besmirching
that name on Ehren's label.
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Lagier-Meredith Syrah: I've followed the L-M Syrahs from the very start,
though we barely got in on the '98 afore it sold out. It has become a must-buy
for me now. Steve & Carole poured the 2000 in June at HdR & I liked
it quite a lot, but wasn't blown away by it. I hade it again in October
just afore release and liked it much more. Then Larry Archibald served
it (blind) at his tasting last Monday and I identified it as the Gourt
de Matens acause of its intensity of fruit. This time is easily the best
the wine has shown.... huge intensity of Syrah fruit but the structure
& tannins to take it far out into time. Definitely one of Calif's great
Syrah vnyds... if a bit hard to get to.
TomHill
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